The Raiders’ men’s soccer team kicked off this year’s GPAC tournament with a win against Doane College on Tuesday Oct 31. NW was able to get the 4-2 victory in the midst of a cold October evening. This quarterfinal win kept the Raider’s postseason hopes very much alive.
The first goal of the evening came in the 18th minute when sophomore Cole Cruse capitalized on a mistake from a Doane defender and played a great ball to junior Tyler Limmer who buried the ball into the net. This was Limmer’s 14th goal of the season.
NW earned their second goal in the 31st minute of the first half. Sophomore Anselmo Kim put in a great through ball to junior Alex Schussman who was wide open to net the goal. This was Schussman’s 7th goal of the season and Kim’s 5th assist. The Raiders kept the pressure on and only eight minutes later junior Connor Tupper found Schussman who again found the back of the net. The Raiders finished the half up 3-0.
Doane was able to get a point on the board in the 67th minute as the Raider defense let a ball go through to allow a 1-on-1 with junior keeper Matt Scott. However, the Raiders regained their 3-goal lead in the 79th minute. Junior Morgan Newby netted a goal off of an assist from junior Breno Fabbri.
Doane was able to score one last goal late in the game off of a failed clearance by the Raiders. The Raiders held out to get the 4-2 win.
Sophomore Ben Hengst said, “Overall we played a good game and we were able to shut down Doane’s offense. We are excited to keep momentum going for our next game in the tournament.”
NW will play in the GPAC Conference semi-final match home against Concordia University at 7 p.m. this Saturday.
